Prosecutors reject budget raise

TANGERANG: Banten prosecutors have refused the local council's offer to increase the allocation for the prosecutor's office in the 2005 provincial budget.

Senior prosecutor I Gede Sudiatmaja said on Friday that the office had formally refused the offer in writing to the Banten Council.

"Our refusal has nothing to do with the ongoing probe into the Rp 13.5 billion graft case of 2003 involving former council leaders. We simply do not want to cause additional burdens on the administration," said Sudiatmaja. He did not mention the amount of the proposed increase.

A legal staffer at the council, Dadang Sofyan, confirmed receiving a letter from the prosecutor's office.

"The Council Speaker has not read it," he said when asked for the council's statement. -- JP